Michael van Gerwen alternates good Premier League evenings with bad ones. The darts player from Vlijmen won round nine last week, Thursday evening it was ready for Van Gerwen again after the first game. He lost 5-6 to Jonny Clayton in the quarterfinals.
The duel between Van Gerwen and Clayton was also a duel between the leader in the Premier League and the number two in the ranking. Mighty Mike knew beforehand that he wouldn’t have an easy opening match. That was evident at the start, as Clayton quickly took a 0-2 lead. Van Gerwen fought back and even took the lead.
With a 3-2 score, MvG had an ideal opportunity to distance himself from his English opponent. But three darts on a double were not used by Van Gerwen, who saw Clayton come alongside again. It went on straight after that, until the end of the match.
Van Gerwen had one opportunity to win the match at a 5-5 score, but saw the point of his arrow disappear just next to the right side of the iron at double eighteen. Clayton took advantage of Van Gerwen’s miss. With a 71 finish, he ended the match and qualified for the semi-finals of the tenth round.
Everything or nothing
For the former number one in the world, it was another short Premier League evening due to the defeat. In that regard, it is almost always all or nothing for the Brabant darter this season. He was able to go home immediately after the first game for four of the ten rounds and it was therefore nothing. He was just as often in the final of a match. He won three of the four finals.